Henry Kaiser - Those Who Know History Are Doomed to Repeat It (1988)

While I'm a huge fan of being able to stream anything I want to hear, it's no substitute for a physical copy of an album. Similarly, the easy access of information via the internet has removed a lot of the mystique that browsing for music had half a century ago.

Never again am I likely to head into a music store and find something by a favourite band, which I had no idea existed, since everything available is so well documented. So, charity shops are more fun, not just for the price differential from HMV or Amazon, but for the lure of the unknown.

This purchase from a charity shop in Newquay ticked all the boxes. I'd heard of Henry Kaiser, mostly from his collaborations with Fred Frith (Henry Cow) and Richard Thomson, which made him of interest, but wasn't aware of any of his work, so this was a quid well spent.

So, what have we here? Given the descriptions of Kaiser (idiosyncratic sideman, experimental, free improviser) I approached with caution. But it seems this album of cover versions is at the accessible end of Kaiser, so I wasn't too daunted. Especially when the names Garcia and Van Vliet loom large in the writing credits, telling me it isn't going to be easy listening standards.

We kick off with Grateful Dead's Mason's Children, a louder, faster and altogether less Byrdsian version than the original, and it's a fine start. The 'novelty section' follows, with Bacharach and David's The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (a 1964 hit for Gene Pitney), done fairly straight after a twiddly guitar intro.

This is followed by The Andy Griffith Show Theme: The Fishin' Hole in its expanded vocal version, sung by Cary Sheldon, charming without being exciting. Then there's Bobbie Gentry's Ode To Billy Joe, again solid without exciting. The first of the Beefheart covers follows, the short guitar instrumental Flavor Living Bud, before the cover of Grateful Dead's Dark Star/The Other One, a half hour epic which took up the whole of side two of the original vinyl release. It's surprisingly listenable, with lots of guitar noodling before the first vocal kicks in. The song itself is uninspired but is followed by a couple of guitar and violins jams, with some interesting noises, and is a more interesting listen than you'd expect from a half hour Dead cover.

The CD version also contains a few more Beefheart covers, I Love You, You Big Dummy; A Carrot Is As Close As A Rabbit As A Rabbit Gets To A Diamond; Alice In Blunderland and Mirror Man, all an interesting take, before finishing with Country Joe McDonald's Colors For Susan.

I've enjoyed this album far more than I expected. There's nothing new or groundbreaking, but sometimes a musician expressing himself on songs he loves is a refreshing listen, especially if you agree with the off piste selections.

Link to album tracks

4* - a really enjoyable album from a likeable experimental artist.